The present invention relates generally to a laminated tape and more particularly to a laminated tape usable in connection with the manufacture of figures or characters of desired shape or the stencils for such figures or characters. The present invention also relates to a method of using such laminated tape in the manufacture of such figures or characters and application of the same to the desired medium.
Various devices and techniques presently exist in the prior art for cutting letters or figures of other shapes and transferring the same to a desired medium. Prior art also exists in which a laminated tape includes a top layer adapted to transmit a cutting force from a cutting die to a cuttable intermediate layer and a bottom base layer. Such a laminated tape is described in the Massari U.S. Pat. No. 3,558,425. The laminated tape described in this patent includes an upper, relatively thin and highly flexible carrier layer which stretches and serves to transmit the cutting force of a cutting die to an intermediate layer. This intermediate layer is positioned below the upper layer and is a highly inflexible and hard material such as cellulose acetate which is susceptible of being cut by the cutting forces transmitted through the upper layer. A bottom layer of this laminated tape consists of a relatively hard material. Although the laminated tape of the above-mentioned Massari patent is satisfactory in many respects, its usefulness is limited because of the relatively high cutting force needed to cut the intermediate layer. This high cutting force is a direct result of the highly inflexible and hard intermediate layer required in the Massari laminated tape structure. The high cutting forces in turn necessitate the use of generally hard cutting materials such as steel, thus dramatically increasing the cost of the cutting equipment and thereby limiting the potential use of the laminated tape. Accordingly, a need has existed, and continues to exist, for a laminated tape structure having a cuttable layer with the toughness and strength to resist tearing, etc. during manufacture or use as well as being soft and flexible enought to dramatically reduce the cutting forces needed to manufacture the figure of desired shape. Such a laminated tape would eliminate the necessity for relatively hard cutting materials such as steel and thereby significantly reduce the cost of the cutting equipment and increase the use of the laminated tape.